In general, a facsimile apparatus is often used in an unattended state such as in the night, and high recording quality, easy maintenance, and low recording cost are required due to a large recording amount.
For this reason, a facsimile apparatus normally uses roll paper as recording paper, and normally adopts a thermal recording system as a recording system.
However, since recent ink-jet recording techniques have remarkably advanced, and recording quality has become very high, some facsimile apparatuses employ a serial ink-jet recording system.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a facsimile apparatus which uses a cut paper sheet as recording paper, and adopts serial ink-jet recording means as a recording system.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional facsimile apparatus comprising a serial recording type ink-jet recording means has an arrangement, as shown in FIG. 4. As shown in FIG. 4, an operation panel 201 is arranged on the front edge portion of the upper surface of a main body 200. Below the operation panel, an original reader is arranged. The original reader moves an original E in a direction of an arrow A, and reads the original while discharging the original E onto a tray 51 through an opening portion 103 formed in the front side surface of the main body 200. The original reader is constituted by a contact sensor 80 which is brought into direct contact with the original surface of the original E to read an original image, a feed roller 90, and the like.
A serial recording type ink-jet recording apparatus is incorporated below and behind the original reader. The ink-jet recording apparatus is constituted by a carriage 113, which is reciprocally driven by a drive mechanism (not shown) in the upper/lower direction of the sheet surface of the drawings, and an ink cartridge 120 (indicated by a broken line) detachably attached to the carriage 113. The ink-jet recording apparatus performs recording onto a recording sheet S which is fed in a direction of an arrow B.
A plurality of recording sheets S are stacked and stored in a sheet base 60, and are conveyed one by one to a position between a main roller 170 and a sheet guide 180 by a sheet separation mechanism (not shown). The recording sheet is then conveyed step by step in the direction of the arrow B, and is subjected to recording for one line corresponding to a predetermined number of dots. Upon completion of recording for one sheet, the recording sheet is discharged onto a tray 52.